StJGAE. 



101 



One hundred parts of 'Albumen consist of Carbon, 52'88; Oxygen, 23-88 ; 

 Hydrogen, 7*54; Nitrogen, 1570. Gluten, nearly same as Albumen. 



By a reference to the foregoing table it will be easily understood 

 how slight a change in the proportion of the ingredients of any 

 one of the substances contained therein will convert it into an. 

 entirely different one. In chemistry we are able, to a certain 

 extent, to imitate the operations of nature ; but we must follow 

 in the same course laid down by her ; thus, we can convert woody 

 fibre, or sawdust and starch, into sugar, gum, alcohol, and acetic 

 acid ; but we cannot convert alcohol, acetic acid, or gum into 

 sugar, starch or woody fibre ; and of such importance is a slight 

 alteration of the proportions of these elements carbon, oxygen, 

 and hydrogen that the abstraction of carbon from sugar, and the 

 addition of a portion of the prime support of life, vegetation and 

 combustion, oxygen, changes the harmless sugar into the most 

 violent of poisons, oxalic acid, which consists of 26.57 carbon, 

 70.69 oxygen, and 2.74 hydrogen. 



Let us now examine the action of lime on sugar, and "we shall 

 find it equally, if not more, injurious than on the other substances. 

 Srtgar is capable of dissolving half its weight of lime, by which its 

 sweet taste is destroyed, and it becomes converted into gum ; the 

 lime abstracting carbonic acid from it to form a carbonate of lime 

 or chalk. It will be seen by the above table that 



100 parts of sugar contain 

 100 parts of gum contain 



42.47 carbon. 

 42.23 ditto. 



Difference .... 24 



So that, if we extract 24-100thg of a grain of carbon from 100 

 grains of sugar, we convert them into gum. Let us suppose that 

 about two ounces of lime, or say 1,000 grains, remain in solution 

 in a pan, (say 200 gallons of liquor,) those 1,000 grains of lime 

 will require 761 of carbonic acid to convert them into carbonate of 

 lime or chalk, 100 grains of which consist of 56.2 lime and 43.8 

 carbonic acid. So that 1,761 grains of chalk consist of 1,000 lime 

 and 761 carbonic acid. Now 100 grains of cirbonic acid consist 

 jf 27.53 carbon and 72.47 oxygen ; therefore 761 grains will con- 

 sist of 209.50 carbon and 551.53 oxygen. 



M 



